My Favourite Albums Of 2016

My Album Of The Year

Teens of Denial hit me at the right moment in my life, in a year that I hope to soon forget. I felt my wheels spinning in place, professionally, navigating the demands of job interviews, applications, and starting a business. Adjusting to a home life with new interpersonal dynamics and demands on my time also proved to be a challenge. The thing that was the consistent through it all with howling sympathy was Will Toledo and Co.’s Teens of Denial. I’m woefully inept at remembering lyrics to a whole song, but I can, beat for beat, sing the entirety of Teens of Denial without a slip-up. I sang along in my car, yelled along at a live show, and played along while relearning guitar. I Filled In The Blank continuously in 2016 and I know I will never hear the Just What I Needed riff the same way ever again.

Teens of Denial allowed me to find myself and lose myself at the same time. There’s little I can say about the album that hasn’t already been said in the dozens of reviews and rumination pieces that disassembled and deconstructed why it hit as many people as hard as it did. Will Toledo put it best in an interview when he said, “Every album that I write is supposed to convey the arc of an emotional weather pattern I’ve been having, and finishing the album is what triggers the next emotional weather pattern.” Teens of Denial was my emotional weather pattern for 2016, and as much as I am glad to say goodbye to the year I had, I’m glad I was able to experience the album when I did.

And The Rest Are…

Anderson .Paak - Malibu

Angel Olsen - My Woman

A Tribe Called Quest - We Got It from Here... Thank You 4 Your Service

BADBADNOTGOOD - IIV

Iggy Pop - Post Pop Depression

Islands - Taste

Miike Snow - iii

Pinegrove - Cardinal

Twin Peaks - Down In Heaven

Last.fm did a cool Year In Review feature this year and you can check out mine, in more detail, here.